Nowhere in his home will you find plaques, balls or framed newspaper clippings celebrating his 43 years as baseball coach at Heath High School. Klontz can’t even offer a guess as to how many district and league championships his teams have wonn.

And he isn’t overly impressed by his career record of 651-452. They are just numbers to him.

“All I know is, I’ve lost a lot of games to Don Thorp (of Lakewood),” he quipped.

Klontz, 68, might be uncomfortable tooting his own horn, but numerous former players and coaching colleagues are living proof of his extraordinary work in molding boys into men with strong values and character.

For his longtime commitment to high-school sports in central Ohio, Klontz is this year’s winner of the Lou Berliner Memorial Award, presented annually in conjunction with The Dispatch scholar-athlete program. Berliner covered high-school and amateur sports at the newspaper for 44 years before his death in 1984.

Thorp, the 2001 Berliner winner who has coached for 52 seasons and is Ohio’s career leader in baseball victories with more than 900, holds Klontz in the highest regard.

“He’s at the top of the class in everything — as a coach, as a peer and as a friend,” Thorp said. “He’s a class individual.”

Speaking of class, Klontz was among the first students to enter Heath High when it opened in 1962. He graduated in 1964, having played baseball, football and basketball.

When he was a junior at Bethel College in Mishawaka, Ind., Klontz was pressed to make a decision that would alter his life.

“They told me I had to declare a major,” he said. “I was working at UPS and a gas station, and I knew I didn’t want to do that for a living. I had admired all of my coaches and they seemed to enjoy what they were doing, so I sort of chose that route (education) by default.”

Shortly after graduating in 1968, he had a teaching and coaching job lined up in nearby South Bend, but Heath City Schools Superintendent Rod Swank encouraged Klontz to return home for a similar position. He became freshman basketball coach and assistant baseball coach. By 1972, he was promoted to head baseball coach. He also served as a football assistant for 36 years. He was a health and physical education teacher until retiring in 2007.

While placing a great emphasis on the intricacies of the game, Klontz evolved into what is known as a “player’s coach.”

“It’s increasingly difficult to find kids having fun,” he said. “They’re under so much pressure now to please their parents and coaches, I think the most valuable advice I can give them is to have fun and enjoy the game.

“I know that when I was a player, I tried too hard. I didn’t let it happen. That carried over to when I was a younger coach. In hindsight, I think I transferred some of that pressure to them. When I learned to relax and enjoy the game, we played a lot better. I wish I had gotten that through my thick skull a lot earlier.”

Mark Eckert, who played for Heath from 1977 to 1980, has served as an unpaid assistant on Klontz’s seven-man staff for 23 years.

“He loves the game to death,” Eckert said. “That’s why he’s still in it. One of his greatest attributes is he’s up front and honest with you. He doesn’t sugarcoat anything.”

After playing for Klontz from 1995 to 1998, Craig Kyle decided to follow in the footsteps of his role model and mentor. Kyle guided Jonathan Alder to three state tournaments in his first four seasons there.

“He’s been like a second father to me and definitely was the inspiration of what I wanted to be,” Kyle said. “I’ve tried to model myself after him as a coach and as a person.”

“From a baseball aspect, he’s huge at teaching the inside game and how you win by doing the little things. Looking at the big picture, though, he’s more of a coach of life and equates baseball to life situations. He’s made a lot of people better men. I can attest to that.”

Junior catcher Robbie Waddell said Klontz’s greatest attribute is that he makes those around him feel good about themselves.

“He just understands how to reach us and get his point across,” Waddell said. “He’s a father figure in one sense, but he’s still like a kid in his love of the game.”

Klontz said he will continue to coach as long as his health permits. He has the complete support of his wife, Sheila, who estimated she has attended roughly 90 percent of Heath’s games the past 43 years.

“About January, it all starts again and he’s completely rejuvenated,” she said. “He brushes the snow off home plate and starts counting the days until spring training and the first game. Frankly, I’m nervous about the day he retires. This is what help keeps him young.”

Dave and Sheila spend ample time with their three children and five grandchildren. Their two sons coach Heath’s eighth-grade baseball team.

In 2002 and 2007, Klontz guided Heath to Division III championships. In 2003, he was voted into the Ohio High School Baseball Coaches Association Hall of Fame. Those milestones, although unforgettable, aren’t the most vivid memories he will take from the game.

“To climb that mountain and win a state championship is the ultimate prize and something every coach should get to experience,” he said. “But, to me, my biggest highlights are going to the alumni game and meeting all of my former players’ families, and seeing how excited Sheila gets at games. I can hear her voice over everyone’s. She always sits right behind the third-base coaching box so I can find her.”

He will get to rekindle many friendships during his 50-year high-school reunion this summer. He has coached several of his classmates’ grandsons.

Bulldogs senior center fielder Kameron Herring said he will dearly miss playing for Klontz.

“Before I got here, it was almost intimidating because he was such a legend,” Herring said. “He taught me a lot more than baseball. He always finds a way to work in something about how you’re going to take care of your family.

“It’s just awesome that he’s getting this award. I can’t think of anyone who has given back more to a school and a community. I’ve even seen him help the janitor early in the morning. He’s that kind of guy.”